I guess it’s a funny old world when people enjoy reading using their ears rather than their eyes! The ability to download audio book titles has proven to be very popular, especially for those who feel too busy to find time to put their feet up, pour a glass of wine and have a good old ‘traditional’ read. But it’s not a popular trend with everybody.
Detractors moan that audio book CDs are too bulky, they get lost easily and you need a CD player to hand. The actor reading the story might not have the ‘right’ kind of voice and this is off-putting (especially if you’ve built up an ‘internal’ voice in your head already). We also hear that they’re a threat to traditional reading skills.
However, this ignores the broader spectrum: audio books open up great literature (and factual writing) to a wider audience and, as we live in the computer age, there are many different, quick, cheap and convenient methods of delivery. Every town seems to have a new multimedia outlet springing up, providing all kinds of software and hardware audio products. But maybe the greatest advancement is in the ability to download audio...